“Chabon dives face first into every conceivable cliché about Jews and hard-boiled detective fiction. It takes about nine pages to get used to constant lines like, "This Yid, wearing a pair of cement forelocks he was, took a kibbutz to the bottom of the Baffin Bay!", but once the reader acclimates himself to what the novel takes for granted, it's an incredible page-turner.”
“I enjoyed the book. It wasn't a brilliant treatise on anything and I don't know if it made me think about the world in a different way, but I like Chabon's vivid style and therefore I think I would read anything he wrote just for that. I wasn't bothered by the Yiddish--I rather enjoyed it. Chabon's book Kavalier and Clay introduced me to the idea of the Golem--something I had never been exposed to. This book was Jewish but it didn't just play the Jewish card as a cheap way of gaining sympathy--which was what I thought about Jonathan Safran Foyer's "Everything is Illuminated"--the movie at least--I didn't read that book. I may be wrong about that though--after all they do say "never judge a book by it's movie" :) Anyway, speaking of movies, I actually think Yiddish Policeman's Union would make a good one--one I would watch at any rate. True, the end is far-fetched, but was interesting as a political commentary in it's own way--Jewish "terrorists" plotting to take over Israel--quite a funny concept actually. Sorry for the spoiler!”
“I was highly disappointed with this book. I had read, and loved, everything else he wrote. I bought this hard cover and dove in and it was painfully boring to me. Also, if you have read any other of his books, it is wholly predictable what the dead antagonist's great secret is.”
“Sounds like heaven,as a frustrated lady cop myself I look very forward to diving in.”
“Having had a NY Jewish-Yiddish background would have helped some of you, as i find it delightful & quite extraordinary. The story itself was unimportant. The characters were terrific. As I remember, the ending was a wee bit too sci-fi or tv'ish for me. But I loved the main idea w/ the jewish/yiddish addition. It could have been anywhere USA, but putting it in Alaska was funny in itself.”
“I found the first 120 pages very dense reading. But afterwards the book just took off. He has truly created a unique world here, full of yiddish and non yidddish vocabulary, gangster Jews, tension between jews and Indians, etc....really amazing stuff! Almost an alternate universe. I found it very much worth the read after the first 120 pages. You really can't fathom where the story is going to go. Is it as good as Kavalier and Clay? Not in my opinion. But very good none the less. Just hang in there past page 100...you won't be disappointed!”
“So, has anyone read his newest novel yet? Given my take on Yiddish Policeman's Union, I'm a bit skittish to spend the dollars on Gentlemen of the Road: An Adventure.”
“Not up to his usual standards”
“Odd twist on a detective novel. Very cold and bleak. Just OK”
“Thanks, shkza! I'm already in love with Metacritic, and I signed up for Powell's Review-a-Day e-mail.”
